"First give the heavy knights a full meal and let them have a good sleep. We will set off at midnight tonight."
"promise."
In Cao Jun's camp, Cao Cao looked at the statistical casualty reports.
"Twelve thousand dead, twenty thousand injured?" Cao Cao was a little dissatisfied.
Cao Jun had fewer wounded than Liu Jun!
Xun You said: "Prime Minister, casualties during the siege are unavoidable. I'm looking at you. Liu's army will be defeated in three days at most."
Cheng Yu also said: "Yes, Prime Minister, moreover, most of our soldiers have minor injuries. After two or three months of training, they will be able to fight again."
"Well, let the soldiers have a good rest and continue to attack the city tomorrow." Cao Cao's brows relaxed a little.
"promise."
At this time, in the west of Fancheng, three thousand heavy cavalry gathered here. The soldiers looked at each other, and they didn't know why they didn't sleep in the middle of the night, so they gathered them together.
"My lord, ten thousand war horses and three thousand heavy cavalry have gathered here." Wei Yan said to Liu Cong.
Ten thousand war horses, each equipped with three horses!
"Have the stirrups and horseshoes been removed?" Liu Cong asked.
"They have all been unloaded," Wei Yan replied.
Liu Cong nodded, looking at these majestic men, he felt extremely at ease in his heart.
The heavy cavalry have the best food and accommodation, and those who can be selected are all tall, well-shaped, and powerful men in Jingxiang's army.
"Silence!"
Wei Yan shouted loudly.
The soldiers who were whispering below suddenly fell silent, and Liu Cong said: "Soldiers, the fact that you are wearing such heavy armor shows that each of you is a leader in the army."
After hearing Liu Cong's words, the soldiers below puffed out their chests more prominently and stood up straighter.
Liu Cong continued, "You are heroes and warriors. Tonight, I will give you a name, and you will be called Xuanjia Iron Cavalry!"
Heavy armor in the Han Dynasty was all black, and the black armored cavalry deserved its reputation.
"Cao Jun has an army called the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Tonight we will step on their name and become the best in the world!"
"You have always enjoyed the best, but now you dare to step into the enemy's camp for me?"
"Dare!" the soldier waved his weapon.
"Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, crush the enemy!" Liu Cong drew out his sword and shouted!
"Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, crush the enemy!"
"Black Armor Iron Cavalry, crush the enemy!" The three thousand soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Get the wine!"
Dozens of jars of wine formed a small pyramid. Liu Cong opened his palm and let the blood drip into the wine.
"I swear with this blood that I will never compromise. After drinking this Zhuangxing wine, I will personally lead you to attack the enemy camp at night!" Liu Cong took the small bowl, scooped out a bowl of wine, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Ah? My lord will personally lead the troops?"
"Lord, are you going to come with us mud-legged people?"
After some discussion, the morale of the soldiers became stronger and stronger, and they all stepped forward to scoop out wine from bowls.
At three o'clock in the morning, Liu Cong led his troops out of the city from the west, accompanied by four generals: Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Wenpin, and Xu Feng.
Ten thousand war horses, each horse's hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, their mouths were covered with iron nets, and each soldier shouted a wooden stick in his mouth.
As expected, Wenpin has been stationed in Fancheng for many years and is extremely familiar with the situation in Fancheng.
Following Wenpin's guidance, Liu Cong led the army six miles to the west and seventeen miles to the north. Sure enough, there was a forest, and you could even see the lights of fire in Cao's camp.
"Slow down and keep moving forward!"
Three thousand troops advanced slowly towards Cao's camp. Until they were 300 meters away from Cao's camp, there were no spies from Cao's army.
Cao Cao's military camp was arranged in a circle and was only twenty miles away from Fancheng. In order to facilitate the travel of his cavalry, no trenches were dug. In the eyes of the generals in Cao Cao's camp, Liu Jun would suffer a fatal blow from his own cavalry if he dared to leave the city!
Liu Cong's heart was hanging in the air, and the palms of his hands holding the spear were covered with sweat. He breathed a long sigh of relief and whispered, "Change horses!"
After changing their horses, Liu Cong and several generals nodded and pulled down their visors.
"Raise the fire! Charge!" Huang Zhong raised his sword and drank with great enthusiasm!
"Herod!"
"Kill!"
"boom!"
The armored war horses directly broke through the camp gate! The drowsy soldiers on the archery tower of the camp were awakened by the huge noise, and the shrill shouts broke through the quiet night sky!
"Enemy attack!"
"Phew." Huang Zhong bent his bow and shot him with an arrow, then picked up his sword and charged in to kill him without looking back!
The scattered troops patrolling in Cao's camp were unable to stop such a torrent of steel. Liu Jun did not fire arrows or make any unnecessary movements, only the torches in his hands lit one tent after another!
"Lord! The enemy army has attacked the camp." Xu Chu, wearing armor, hurried into the tent. Cao Cao had already dressed and was waiting for him with a sword.
"Who is leading the army? How many people are here?" Cao Cao asked gloomily.
"Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, crush the enemy!"
"All officers and men, follow me and charge forward!"
Before Xu Chu could reply, Cao Cao heard the shouts of death coming from outside.
"Liu Cong is here in person?" Cao Cao's eyes widened.
After saying that, he seemed to have been greatly humiliated and kicked the table over, "Ah! Liu Cong, my son, has gone too far to bully an orphan. He summons all the generals to fight against the enemy! Fight against the enemy!"
"Lord, leave quickly, the enemy troops are rushing towards the central army." Xu Chu directly pulled Cao Cao away regardless of whether he agreed or not.
"Lord, there is no one in the tent." When Xu Feng broke into the commander's tent, no one was there.
"Withdraw!" Liu Cong turned his horse's head and said.
After returning to Fancheng, Liu Cong went straight to the south of the city. Under the guidance of Pang Tong, Gan Ning and others, he boarded a ship and evacuated to Xiangyang!
In Cao Jun's camp, the fire was soaring into the sky, and it took a whole night to calm down. In the early morning of the next day, Cao's camp was full of scorched earth and broken arms!
On the top of the mountain, Cao Cao wrapped his cloak tightly around his back and stared blankly at the ruined military camp in the distance.
"Lord." Cheng Yu stepped forward with the military report.
Cao Cao picked up the hot tea next to him and blew on it, "How's it going?"
"At midnight last night, Liu Cong personally led a group of cavalry, all wearing heavy armor, to attack our army's camp. They had three horses per person and three thousand horses with kerosene poured on them. When they rushed into the camp, they lit fires and made chaos everywhere.
Flee. If Cao Ren, Xu Huang, Zhang Jia and other generals had not gathered their troops and horses, last night, our army might have..." At this point, Cheng Yu raised his head and looked at Cao Cao's face.
Cao Cao took a sip of tea and said, "Continue."
"No. Our army suffered more than 87,000 casualties last night, with 40,000 killed and 47,000 injured. We lost 20,000 horses and 120,000 dan of food and grass."
"Where's Liu Jun?"
"In addition to three thousand ignited war horses, there are also more than a dozen armored horses. Liu Jun...has no casualties." Cheng Yu finished speaking and closed the military report.
"This morning, our army entered Fancheng to investigate. Fancheng was deserted. Liu Cong led his troops to retreat last night." Cheng Yu continued.
"Having a son should be like Liu Xiye. What a Liu Cong, Liu Xiye." Cao Cao put down the empty cup and said: "Our army still has nearly 200,000 combatable soldiers. Send an order to station in Fancheng."
Cheng Yu was a little surprised, "Lord, aren't we retreating?"
After this defeat, the morale of Cao's army was severely damaged, and all their weapons and equipment were lost. Even if there were nearly 200,000 soldiers left to fight, there were only 50,000 or 60,000 cavalry. Attacking Xiangyang would not have much effect.
In his view, it was time to retreat.
Cao Cao frowned and said, "Liu Cong is stronger than Liu Biao and not as Shoucheng as Liu Biao. If you can't defeat him in one go, I'll worry, this is another little overlord Sun Ce!"
Cheng Yu also thought of Sun Ce back then, but still said: "But, lord, where are our provisions and luggage?"
"The grain, grass and baggage will be transferred from Xuchang, and the horses will be forgotten. On the bank of the Han River, the cavalry will be of no use. Jingxiang is so wealthy that the men and horses are all wearing armor. If Xiangyang is captured, are we still afraid that there will be no grain, grass and baggage?" Cao Cao looked at it with his eyes.